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Ships captain rejects HIV-positive sailor

THE Jeanie Johnston replica famine ship has sailed into a row over its refusal to let a man who is HIV-positive join the crew.

Simon Butterfield, 39, an experienced sailor and a town councillor from Kendal in Cumbria, wanted to travel from Whitehaven to Dublin for a three-day voyage on the tall ship. The trip, offered to the public at the Whitehaven Maritime Festival, involved passengers working as part of the crew.

“I was excited,” says Butterfield. “I filled out my form, I declared that I was HIV-positive, and got my bank card out. But the captain refused me. It put a complete downer on the day. I just went home.”

Michael Coleman, the Jeanie Johnston captain, refused to let Butterfield sail on the grounds that he might endanger the health of other crew members.

The decision has been widely criticised. While the department of the marine has health regulations